Breaking Away
by alexsdc
Summary: A Season One fanfic written in 1998, this DJo series continues from where the season finale left off and answers the question what would happen if Dawson was actually selfless enough to not stop Joey from choosing to go to Paris?
1. Breaking Away

**Well, this has to be done at some point, so I might as well do it now if I'm going to post all my stories here. I wrote this series when I was 14 years old and heavily D/Jo, right after the season one finale. I tried to keep in mind that the characters were 15, and write a story about how people that age might actually act. The benefit, though, is that means it is complete! R&R? Thanks!**

**Rating**: PG

**Distribution**: Please email me and I'll send it to you.

**Spoilers**: Since this is a continuation of the season 1 finale, you kind of have to have seen Breaking Away to understand it, and if you've seen it, nothing is being spoiled.

Breaking Away

_"Joey...Joey!" _

_Dawson__ had no idea what just happened. He was finally going to be honest with Joey. He was staring lovingly at his Joey...his everything. He had said it to her father, to himself. Now, he just wanted to tell her, but she suddenly looked like she was going to cry. "I'll see you Dawson," she said with a scornful voice. She went towards the window to leave for __France__. __Dawson__ tried for a second to process what had happened when he involuntarily said her name. He suddenly went after her and knew that whatever happened, he could not let her leave his room. She stopped at the window, rolling her eyes as she turned to face him. She longed for the way that he had just been looking at her, the way he was staring at her as if she was the most precious thing in the world. The way his face followed her every motion when she talked. She prepared herself to say something about how he has to make a decision when he suddenly grabbed her shoulders. He made a quick movement to her, only hesitating to make sure that he would not miss her lips. Joey jumped back a little in surprise and closed her eyes as she felt __Dawson__'s lips on hers. The kiss only lasted for a couple of seconds. __Dawson__ softly put his hand on her cheek. He looked at her with so much love and longing that it shocked Joey almost as much as the kiss, and she stumbled back. He noticed this sadly, but pulled her back anyway so that he could kiss her again. She closed her eyes, which had opened widely as she stared at him is disbelief. They pulled away slightly. __Dawson__ kept his eyes closed. He still held her close, trying to save the moment as he awaited her reaction. Joey's eyes were closed but watery nonetheless. She made an expression of joy and sadness and put her arms around __Dawson__'s neck and kissed him. He wrapped his arms around her waist. _

Joey pulled away a few minutes later. Dawson lazily opened his eyes. "Hi," he smiled at her. They were still holding each other. Joey put her hand on his cheek.

"Dawson?" she whispered, her voice wavering. She couldn't believe what had just happened. She drew him closer and buried her head in his shoulder and cried. He stroked her hair.

"Jo? Jo, don't cry. What is it? One minute we're kissing and the next you sound like you're not sure that I'm here and you're crying hysterically. Jo, why are you crying? Aren't you happy?"

Joey just cried harder. "Jo, you're my everything. Don't you know that now? My everything...."

Joey looked up at him, her watery eyes shining bright blue. She couldn't speak. She stood there trembling. "This is ridiculous," she thought. "I look like an idiot."

"Jo, say something," Dawson encouraged her. She slowly took in his words.

"Jo..." she finally said softly. "I don't think that I ever told you how much I love it when you call me Jo. I'm so rarely called Jo. When you do it it sounds nice." She kissed him once more as softly and tenderly as she could. She tried to get back to reality, but it was too hard. Dawson, unfortunately, did it for her.

"Are you going to France, Jo?"

France. She remembered now. How could she go to France? "Dawson, what are you feeling right now?" she said, suddenly puling away from his embrace. "We said that we would be honest."

"Well, I don't know exactly...no that's not true," Dawson said, flustered. "I want you here with me. I want you in every possible way, if you know what I mean."

Joey smiled her half smile and looked at the floor. She nodded, but then she looked straight at Dawson, dead seriously. "Dawson, are you only feeling this because you can't bear for me to leave?" she managed to stammer out.

"You all push and push at my feelings until I finally realize that I love you and not incestually, and now you think I'm lying?" Dawson yelled, the hurt apparent in his voice.

"Wait, back up here. Whose 'you all'?" Joey asked, confused.

"You and Jen and Pacey."

"Jen, I guess after this morning, but Pacey?" Joey's eyes lit up. "Pacey?" she said, angry that he had betrayed her. "Pacey?" she said warmly, suddenly smiling. He may have betrayed her, but he must have first put the idea into Dawson's head and wouldn't let it go away.

"Okay, that was weird," Dawson commented about Joey's sudden change.

"Wait," Joey's eyes lit up again. "Back up again. You love me?" Joey asked meekly. She wondered if he had only said that to keep her in Capeside. She then realized from his sudden anger when he said it that he meant it.

"Yeah," he said shyly. "You think I want someone I don't love?"

"What about Jen? You wanted her," Joey pointed out.

"What about Jen? I probably could have had my opportunity. I did love her, but the key word here is did. She asked me to take her back and I said no," Dawson said. "Jo, stop worrying. There's no catch here. Are you ever going to say 'I love you, too,' or are you going to let me stand here and make a fool out of myself?"

"I don't know, Dawson. I kind of like watching you make a fool of yourself when it's not over Jen," Joey teased. She went over to Dawson and playfully punched him in the stomach.

"Ah, still the same Joey, I see," Dawson smiled. He tackled her and they landed on the bed. He suddenly had a strong urge to make out with her. He leaned in to kiss her. She kissed him back, but then pulled away. She laid herself in her normal position on the bed. Dawson laid down next to her. She started playing with his hair.

"Dawson, I don't want to leave, but I don't think it's a good idea for me to stay. Not in the same bed," Joey yawned.

"I won't do anything, Jo. I promise." He looked into her eyes. "Don't leave me," Dawson softly whimpered. "Let me wake up with you in my arms."

Joey kissed Dawson. The kiss deepened as they both became lost in their own world.

"I love you, Dawson," Joey whispered between kisses. Dawson smiled and they made out until they fell asleep.

Jen stumbled out of the Church. It broke her heart to see her grandmother cry like that. It was late, but she decided to take a walk alone. Her grandmother stayed in the Church. She happened to see Pacey riding his bike. "Why are you still up?" Jen said softly, trying to force a smile.

"Couldn't sleep with Deputy Doug letting me have it about the beauty pageant," Pacey snorted and mocked his brother. Then he noticed that Jen looked distant and that her eyes were filled with tears. "Jen?" Pacey asked seriously with concern in his voice. "Jen, what's wrong?"

"Everything," she suddenly sobbed. "My gramps had a relapse last night. I asked Dawson if I could sleep over. I had asked him if he would take me back, but he never answered. When we woke up, I was laying on Dawson. I kissed him right as Joey came up the ladder. He jumped up to tell her that she had the wrong idea, but she ran off. He doesn't care about me at all, anymore. He spent the whole day looking for her. He loves her. Then my gramps died. I went to Church with my grandma. She was so miserable and upset that it broke my heart even more than his death." Jen was crying uncontrollably.

"Shhhhh...." Pacey said, putting his arms around her. "It would have broken your heart completely in half, then, to see what I saw the shadows in Dawson's room doing when I rode past his house," he thought.

Like it? Want me to continue? Hate it (don't be harsh, PLEASE, it's my first story)? Suggestions?


	2. Mercury Rising

Mercury Rising

"Jen, crash at my place tonight," Pacey whispered into her hair. "Go get some clothes and your books and I'll take you to school tomorrow." Jen stopped crying.

"What?" she asked as if she didn't understand what he had said. She was still sniffling, and there were still tears streaming down her face.

"You heard me," Pacey said.

"Pace, that's insane. My grandma would kill me, I don't think that I'm going to school tomorrow, and I'm not really in the mood to have you putting moves on me." Jen lied about the last part. She still wanted Dawson, but she found herself really wanting any guy's consolences. "That was the old Jen," she thought, shaking her head. "I need to rely on myself now."

"First," Pacey said, "Your grandma will probably spend the night at the Church. Second, she needs to make the funeral arrangements tomorrow, so it might be better for you not to be around. Third, what do you think I am? Would I put moves on you now? Besides, I bet you'll be the one coping a feel in the middle of the night, seeing how I'm so irresistible." Pacey started to preen. Jen giggled, but quickly covered her mouth and punched his arm.

"I don't want to encourage you," she said, managing a smile.

"Also, I know the crap that you gave Dawson when you broke up with him. If you're worried that you can't take care of yourself and hate needing someone to lean on, relax. You'll have plenty of time to yourself. I think that you could use a little cheering up, though," Pacey said matter-of-factly. "Even when someone doesn't have a boyfriend, they still have their family and their friends to lean on."

"Ugh, so I have to be spending a night in the same bed as you?" Jen frowned jokingly.

"I'll take that as a yes," Pacey smiled. "Go get your stuff." Jen got back, and Pacey walked his bike along side her as they went to his house. He took her backpack and cheerfully said "I have the best excuse if your grandma gets really mad. I found you asleep late at night on the bench and decided not to wake you and to bring you to my house."

"Why do I have my books and a change of clothes, then?" Jen smiled. "And why didn't you just bring me home?"

"Well, I was bringing you home, but when we got there you were passionately calling my name in your sleep. I couldn't resist..."

"Please, spare me the details," Jen begged. "Things are bad enough already." Pacey smiled and took Jen's hand. He suddenly heard a loud rumble. "Rain again?" he grumbled. "Come on, we've got to hurry up before the storm gets here."

Joey woke up in Dawson's arms. She heard the wind blowing rather loudly outside, but she didn't mind in the least. She liked listening to the wind blow over the water, it was peaceful. Joey just laid there for a minute. It was still dark out. She turned her head to look at the clock. 3am.

"Good," she thought. "We don't have to get up for another four and a half hours." She stared at Dawson lovingly. A flash of light suddenly filled the room followed by a loud crack of thunder. Joey jumped and snuggled deeper into Dawson's arms. She hated storms, but she still felt safe. Dawson would protect her.

Dawson awoke with a start. "Great, it's only 6:30," he mumbled. He was about to go back to sleep when he suddenly realized that he was holding something in his arms. It was actually someone. Joey! "What the--" he thought. Then he remembered. He couldn't let her leave. He begged her not to leave. "What was I thinking?" he thought. But he knew exactly what he was thinking. He started to blush when he remembered exactly what he was thinking. "I have to get out of here," he whispered. He took his arms from around Joey, careful not to wake her, changed his clothes, got his books, and walked out the door.

The alarm went off at 7:30am sharp. Joey groaned and rolled over to shut it. She kept her eyes closed. "Dawson," she said softly, smiling and putting her arm over her eyes. "I'm so happy I finally have something to hold on to-- Dawson?" Joey realized that her other arm wasn't feeling anyone. She quickly opened her eyes and sat up. "Dawson?" she called, instinctively clutching the blanket closer to her. She looked around silently until she spotted the open door. She got up and walked to it. "Dawson?" she said as she looked into the hallway. She slowly went to the window and leaned out. She didn't see any cars, so Dawson's parents must have left really early. "Wonderful," she said bitterly as she climbed down the ladder and hurried home to get ready for school.

Dawson walked for a long time. He skipped breakfast and just walked aimlessly until it was time for school. "And to think, Dawson," he said to himself. "Three months ago you wanted conflict." He sighed. He knew that he had meant what he said to Joey the night before. He loved her, but he was still afraid. He didn't want to ruin their friendship. He knew that wouldn't happen, though. "The truth," he said. The truth was that he was afraid of his feelings. He was afraid of Joey being his everything. He was petrified of the fact that he couldn't live without her. He didn't want to be so dependent on her, but he couldn't help it. He needed her. He didn't want to feel this way knowing that in two weeks she would be gone for three months. He also couldn't let her stay for him. She wanted to go. Dawson sat down on a bench with his shoulders slumped and stared at the water. "Jo, Jo, Jo," he kept repeating her name. "What do I do? Avoid you and hope that when you come back everything will be the same as before? But I can't. I remember even telling you a few months ago when we went to the movies how pretty I thought you looked with that lipstick. I ignored it, but I though it. I can't ignore this anymore. That's the problem." Dawson ran his hands through his hair in frustration and threw himself against the back of the bench. He sat there thoughtfully for a while and then left for school.

"Wake up sleepyhead," Pacey said shaking Jen.

"Pacey, what the hell are you doing?" she laughed.

"Feel better?" he asked, moving around her to stare at her from a different angle.

"No. But thanks," Jen added. "Truthfully, I do feel a little better. And you're scaring me very much right now." Pacey had gone straight up to Jen's face, crossed his eyes, and put his tongue on his nose.

"Let's get to school, shall we?" he said in a terrible British accent, offering her his arm.

"Thank you, kind sir," she replied in an equally horrid accent.

"Have you seen Dawson today?" Joey asked Pacey when he got into school. Jen nervously excused herself to go to the bathroom.

"No witty remark, Josephine?" How shocking!" Pacey slapped his hand to his face in pretend disbelief.

"Shut up, dogbreath," Joey grabbed Pacey by the collar and glared at him. "My day has gone drastically wrong since I woke up. Just answer the question or I swear I'll--"

"Okay, okay, kindly remove your hand from the merchandise," Pacey said, brushing her hand away from his neck. "I have not seen Mr. Leery today. I should think that you'd be in a better mood since you finally got some last night."

Joey followed Pacey as he started to walk down the hall. "How did you know about that?" she asked nervously.

"Everyone knows, dear. You may be carrying his baby right now." Joey gave him the meanest look he'd ever seen. "Okay. I was biking by and I saw your silhouettes kissing. Tough crowd today, geez."

"Never mind, there he is. Dawson!" she yelled as she saw him walk into school.

"Good thing I'm prepared for this," he thought. "I hope."

Thank you for the feedback that I've already gotten. I hope that everyone liked this part. More feedback is always good!


	3. Deep Impact

Deep Impact

"Dawson!" Joey yelled again since he seemed not to see her the first time.

"Oh, hey, Joey," Dawson said calmly after pretending to have suddenly seen her. He made a point of calling her Joey and not Jo. Joey was surprised that Dawson was acting like nothing was wrong.

"Dawson, where were you this morning?" she asked sadly.

"Around."

"But not around me," Joey frowned. "I was really looking forward to waking up and finding you lying next to me." Dawson tried to stay calm. He wanted to comfort her and hold her. He wanted to tell her that he was sorry and that he was here now. The sadness in Joey's voice was breaking his heart, but he decided to continue as planned.

"Sorry," Dawson shrugged.

"Dawson, what's wrong with you?"

"Nothing, babe," he said, purposefully flashing a really fake smile at her. She gave him a funny look.

"Is that all you can say for yourself?" Joey was angry now. This scared Dawson, but what could he do?

"Look, Joey, I'd like to stay and chat, but I've got to go to homeroom."

"Not for another five minutes you don't," Joey grabbed him by the arm and forcibly pulled him outside. "Explain yourself, now."

"What?" Dawson smiled, pretending to be oblivious.

"What's wrong with you?" Joey asked. "I thought you'd miss me if I went to France."

_Of course I will, I love you._ "Of course I will, Joey," Dawson said sarcastically. "I'll miss your constant cynicism and obnoxious remarks. France sure is lucky to get that." Dawson thought that he sounded so cruel that he scared himself. He hated to do what he was doing to Joey but she had to have a fair choice when she was deciding whether to go to France or not.

"Did last night mean nothing to you at all? Did you lie to me? Because if you did, I don't see what you got out of it. We didn't have sex. We just slept together, unless something happened that I don't know about," the tears were welling up in Joey's eyes. "Don't you love me?" she asked feebly.

Dawson's heart broke. He felt as if it was also being stepped on and trampled on, but he knew that what he was doing was right.

"I wasn't lying," he explained smoothly. "I just woke up thinking differently about things. That's all."

"I knew it," said Joey coldly. "You're still afraid of commitment. God, Dawson. I thought you got over this. I guess I was wrong. So, where does that leave us? Well, I guess in the same place that we were three months ago, except that I despise you and I'll be leaving for France soon."

"Jo--" Dawson said.

"Dawson," Joey said, cutting him off. "Bite me." She stormed off and walked into the school. She was walking towards her homeroom when she accidentally walked into Pacey. She smacked her head against his shoulder and fell to the floor.

"Josephine, I didn't see you," Pacey said, not bending over to help her up. "So might I venture to ask how the two love birds are today?"

Joey picked up her things and got herself back on her feet. "Bite me, Pacey," she said, the tears starting to flow, and ran down the hall.

"What the hell did you do now, Dawson?" Pacey thought. He wondered whether he should chase her or not. He then decided that she probably wanted to be alone. He also thought that he was comforting Jen and that putting the two together might not be the best idea. He decided to check on her later, and then he walked to homeroom.

Joey ran and ducked into the bathroom. She put her back against the door, still breathing heavily from her sprint down the hall. She was crying silently when she looked up to see Jen staring at her.

"Joey, what's wrong?" she asked sympathetically. Joey quickly rubbed the tears off her face.

"Nothing, I'm fine," Joey said confidentially.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I don't want to talk about it," Joey said, softening her tone. "But thanks for asking." Jen smiled and looked away. "Jen, why aren't you in homeroom?" Joey asked.

"My grandfather died yesterday," Jen sighed. "I'm not really thinking too clearly. I'm not going to class. I'm really only here because Pacey insisted."

"I'm sorry," Joey said, looking at the floor. "I know what it's like to have someone die. I've got to go, now. I'm pretty late for homeroom." Joey left and Jen sighed again. Joey didn't go to homeroom. She left school through the back. She started walking around town. "Didn't I just do this yesterday?" she thought. She sat down on the beach. She just stayed there all day, staring at the water. She thought about Dawson and going to France. She thought mostly about Dawson, though. She hugged her knees and let the tears trickle down her cheeks. He told her that he loved her. Things were finally going her way. She reconciled with her father. She wasn't going to France. Dawson loved her. He loved her. They were together. But, they weren't, and she didn't know why not. She put her head on her knee and cried harder.

Dawson watched Joey storm off. He thought that he was doing the right thing until he actually did it. He felt that he was going to cry, like he knew Joey was. "Jo," he whispered after she walked into school. He stood there for a minute staring at the door. He wanted to give Joey a fair opportunity to go to France, but this wasn't fair to either of them. He wanted to her to choose for the right reasons, after everything was reconciled so that she wasn't running away anymore. Having him was something that she was going to have to factor in, if she could forgive him. If she stayed, he was going to tell her that he was lying. If she left... it was selfish, but he didn't want her to leave. He would have to tell her when she came back. It might already be too late, though, and he wouldn't hear from her while she was in France because she would hate him. "This is crazy," he thought. He loved her and hoped that she still loved him and that was all that mattered. He had to find her and tell her, but he had just chased her yesterday. First thing after school he would find her and tell her the truth.

Feedback! Good, bad, hopefully good. Write it, please! Thanks to everyone who has written so far, more parts are on the way!!!


	4. Freaked

Read the other parts of the series before you read this.

Freaked

It was lunchtime. Jen finally got up from her hiding place in the bathroom, relieved that she could eat and talk to Pacey, Dawson, and Joey. She took a quick look in the mirror and saw that she looked horrible. She went through her bag and was thankful that she had a brush. She brushed her hair and washed her face. She smiled when she saw that her eyes were no longer red and puffy. She put some lipstick on and left to eat with her friends.

"Pacey," she waved from down the hall when she saw him about to go in the cafeteria.

"Hey, Jen," he smiled. "Did my dragging you to school today make you feel any better?"

"Right. School making things better. No," Jen said, "I've been hiding out in the bathroom all day. But, it's okay."

"You've been taking this pretty well, you know that, Jen?" Pacey said as they got their food. "I'm proud of you. Hey, there's Dawson. C'mon." Jen was beaming when she spotted him. Her expression sank a little, but she decided to try not to let him bother her. Dawson was frantically looking for Joey. He had seen her go back into the school, and he realized that he had never seen her leave. he figured that she had, though. He didn't even notice when Jen and Pacey sat down.

"Hey, Dawson," Jen said weakly.

"Hey, Oompa Loompa," Pacey said, trying to make Jen laugh. She gave Pacey a warning look because of the broken nose he had received the last time he had called Dawson that. Dawson hadn't even notice, though. He sighed and suddenly realized that Pacey and Jen had joined him for lunch.

"Hey guys!" he said, trying to act happy. Pacey remembered that something was bothering Joey.

"So, Dawson. What'd you do to Joey this morning?" he smirked. Dawson's eyes lit up.

"Have you seen her today? I need to talk to her," Dawson said, trying to hide his excitement. Maybe she hadn't ditched school.

"You mean you haven't seen her today?" Pacey asked thoughtfully. Could he have been wrong? Was Joey so upset over something other then Dawson? "She was pretty upset. I saw her before homeroom this morning when she smacked into me and fell over. She ran down the hall after she picked up her stuff." Dawson sank back into his chair. It was bad enough that no one had seen her since they had talked that morning, but it was worse to know that he was the cause of her pain. Pacey noticed his reaction, and knew that he was right. Dawson was the cause of this, as always. He decided not to say anything else, though, because Dawson looked pretty upset.

"I saw her, too," Jen chimed in. Dawson sat up hopefully. "In the bathroom before homeroom. I think that she was crying, but she said that she was fine. She wasn't as catty to me as she normally is." Dawson sank even lower in his seat.

"Did you see where she went?" he asked quietly.

"No, I haven't left the bathroom all morning. Sorry."

"Jen, what's wrong?" Dawson asked.

"My grandfather died last night."

"Jen, I'm so sorry," Dawson sat up suddenly more alert. "I treated you so badly yesterday, I'm sorry." Pacey took Jen's hand under the table when he saw tears coming into her eyes again. Dawson noticed this and was glad that he wouldn't have to feel guilty about not comforting Jen. Pacey would help her. He would bring her and her grandmother flowers later, though.

"Yeah," Jen agreed. "You did." Dawson squirmed uncomfortably in his chair. Maybe he would feel a little guilty...

"I'm so sorry, Jen. I really am. My behavior was unforgivable."

"Dawson, always the nice guy. Can't feel right unless everyone's forgiven him for his obliviously hurting them. What did you do to Joey, huh?" Pacey, suddenly angry, said harshly.

"I'm sorry, it wasn't oblivious, it was a mistake. I'm so sorry," came the rush of words from Dawson. Jen and Pacey looked at him questioningly. "Jen, you I obliviously hurt, and I'm sorry. I don't know what else to say. But, Jo..." Dawson realized that his friends were staring at him attentively waiting for his explanation. "Never mind," he mumbled, picking up his fork and poking at his food. He silently stared at whatever the glob on his plate was supposed to resemble. Pacey continued to eat his food, but Jen continued to stare at Dawson. "He did something to Joey," she thought. "And now he feels guilty. That's what he's thinking about right now. How he feels guilty because he loves her." The words echoed in her mind. "He loves her...he loves her." Jen was suddenly hit by the real meaning of the words. She had no chance with Dawson. None. Ever. He was in love with Joey. Jen couldn't take it anymore. She couldn't sit there staring at him. "C'mon, Pacey. Let's go eat outside. Now," Jen said sharply. "See you later, Dawson," she added, smiling sweetly and hoping that he would get the hint and not follow. It didn't matter, though. Dawson was oblivious, as usual. He was lost in thoughts of Joey.

"Now, Pacey!" Jen almost screamed.

"But it's kind of cold out..." Pacey whined. He changed his mind when he was the anxiousness in her expression. "Yeah, okay," he said, picking up his tray to follow. "Bye, Dawson. " Dawson continued to stare at his food. "Dawson," Pacey said, waving his hand between Dawson's gaze and the food. "He's gone. Let's go." Pacey told Jen on the way out of the cafeteria. Dawson suddenly shook himself out of his trance a few minutes later and was surprised to find himself sitting alone at the table.

Jen still had no appetite. She threw out the food that she hadn't forced herself to eat. Pacey took his food with him, though, when he followed her outside.

"Pacey, this was so much easier yesterday," Jen moaned. Pacey carefully put down his food and hugged Jen. "I mean, when I first heard that he had died, it hadn't registered. I felt numb. That's all, just numbness. I felt like I was aimlessly walking around in this horrible dream, you know? When you found me last night, I had just begun to realize, I'm not going to wake up. He's gone. This is real. Add Dawson pining away for Joey in there and it's just too much. I can't take this!" Jen buried her head in his shoulder and started to cry again.

"It's okay, Jen. It will be all right. C'mon," Pacey started walking. Jen sort of followed, although her head was buried in his sleeve. He found an unoccupied bench on the docks and sat them both down. They stayed there for a while, but Pacey was anxious to check on Joey, too. Since no one had seen her, she must have cut school like he and Jen just had. Well, let Dawson get to her first. Then go check on her. Pacey smiled that he had a plan and continued to comfort Jen.

Joey was still sobbing on the beach. She slowly picked her head off her knee. The tears were still rolling and falling onto her shirt, but she had made her decision about France. She was going to go after school to inform the program of her decision. She figured that by then all the teachers whose classes she had cut would be gone. She also hoped that Dawson would be, too.

Any ideas? Feedback? Watch for the next part with Joey's decision!


	5. Never Say Goodbye

Never Say Goodbye

Dawson ran out of his last class the second that the bell rang. He had been waiting to jump up and leave for five minutes. He was finding it impossible to concentrate on anything other then Joey. He had barely eaten lunch, but he didn't even feel his hunger. He didn't even stop to think that he hadn't eaten all day, he only thought about where Joey could be. Dawson grabbed his bookbag and flew out of the school. He had found her in his closet yesterday, why shouldn't she be there again? He dashed off towards his house.

"Hey, Jen?" Pacey asked carefully. "Jen, hon, you know you haven't been home since yesterday."

"Did Pacey just call me hon?" Jen thought. "Man, that sounded really bad coming from him." Jen giggled softly.

"Jen, what's funny?" Pacey asked, relieved to hear her laugh. Jen didn't want to say that she was laughing at Pacey. "Just thinking of Grams' response when I finally get home," she lied.

"Well, I think going there now would be a good idea," Pacey said. Jen knew that he was right. "If you insist," she agreed. They walked silently along the docks until they got to Jen's house.

"What happens when she freaks out on you?" Pacey asked, worried, as Jen let herself into the house. "Don't worry," Jen responded. "Grams?" Jen yelled into the house. "Grams, I'm home." Jen's grandmother came into the hallway, rubbing her face with a tissue.

"Jennifer," she said, although she didn't really sound too concerned. "Where have you been?"

"I went to school, Grams."

"You had the patience to pay attention?"

"No," Jen laughed quietly. "No, I hid in the bathroom. I wanted to stay out of your way until you made the funeral arrangements so that I wouldn't cause any trouble."

"Well, I guess that was thoughtful of you, Jennifer, but I really do want you here. I need you. I need your help." Pacey nervously watched them both standing there looking like they were about to burst into tears at any moment. He turned around to quietly tiptoe out the door, but Jen's grandmother called him back.

"Pacey, is that your name, young man?"

"Yes'm. I'm really sorry about what happened," Pacey stuttered nervously looking at his feet.

"Grams, Pacey has been taking care of me since yesterday. He's been really great," Jen said. Her grandmother eyed Pacey carefully.

"Thank you," she finally said, as she looked down to look at the floor. "For taking care of Jennifer." She looked up and her eyes met Pacey's. She gave him the beginnings of a smile and turned away. Pacey smiled, said goodbye to Jen and kissed her forehead, and walked out the door shaking his head.

As Dawson ran through the middle of town, he realized that he had promised himself to get Jen and her grandmother flowers. He went to the florist and ordered a dozen tulips. He figured that he's ask his parents to pay him back some of the money when he explained what the flowers were for. He then thought that it would be a great idea to get flowers for Joey. He ordered a dozen roses arranged in a bouquet of six red roses surrounding six white ones. He happily started back to his house, only walking so that he wouldn't ruin the flowers. When he got into his house, he put his bookbag on the couch and carefully laid the roses on the table. His parents weren't going to be home for another few hours. Dawson gazed up at the staircase and decided to go to Jen's house first. He didn't want to forget about her again and wasn't sure that he would be in the mood to see her after finding Joey. Besides, if Joey tried to leave, he'd see her out the window. He figured that he wouldn't be spending too long at Jen's, anyway.

"I think that if Joey watches me bring Jen flowers and gets the wrong idea again I'll go nuts!" Dawson muttered to himself as he rang the doorbell. Jen answered the door. She put on a fake smile when she saw Dawson. She really didn't want to have to deal with him at the moment.

"Jen, I'm really sorry for how I've been acting towards you. We got these flowers for you and your grandmother and send our condolences. We being me family and I," Dawson said sweetly. Jen softened when she saw the tulips.

"Why, thank you, Dawson. Do you want to come in?" Jen asked, taking the flowers.

"Um... no," Dawson said nervously, trying to think of an excuse. "I--I don't want to intrude. Goodbye," Dawson turned to go.

"Dawson," Jen said in a very firm tone.

"Yes," he said, slowly turning back to her.

"You never found Joey, did you," Jen said as a statement.

"No," Dawson admitted, "But I think I know where she is."

"Go, Dawson. Good luck," Jen sighed. Dawson thanked her and ran back to his house. Jen shut the door and joined her grandmother in crying.

Dawson tore into his house. He carefully picked up the roses, smoothed his hair, and went up the stairs. He paused for a minute before he entered his room. He slowly went in and walked to his closet. He took a deep breath and opened the closet door to find.......

Nothing. "Damn!" Dawson yelled, banging his head against the wall. "Ow." He had to find Joey. Where was she? Dawson called her house and got no answer. He couldn't chase her again. He just couldn't. He glumly went back downstairs. He opened his bookbag and sat down to start his homework when he realized that in his haste to get home he had left his math book at school. He dumped everything in his bookbag on the floor to confirm that he had forgotten it.

"Of course," he sighed. he carefully put the roses into his bookbag in case he saw Joey on the way to school and left to get his math book.

Joey looked at her watch and realized that she could safely go to the school. She sighed and stood up, a little cramped from having been sitting in the same position for so long. She started slowly walking to school and then broke into a run. She had no idea why she started running, but she couldn't stop until she got to the school. When she regained her breath and composure, she went in to tell her decision to whoever was there.

Dawson sadly kicked a can in front of him down the sidewalk. He was almost to the school and he hadn't seen Joey. When he finally got to the school, he came to a complete stop. Joey was walking out of the building!

"Jo...Jo!" he screamed at the top of his lungs and ran over to her. he wanted to take her in his arms and make sure that she didn't run away again. He restrained himself, though. "Jo, we need to talk," Dawson said, making a point of calling her Jo.

"So talk," Joey growled.

"I'm so-- what's that?" Dawson spotted the pamphlet in her hand that said France. "You made a decision about France?"

"Yes," Joey replied coldly. "I decided to go." Dawson was mortified.

Next up, the confrontation. Really! Keep that feedback coming!


	6. She's The One

She's the One

Dawson was absolutely crushed. "You're going to France?" he whimpered. Joey remained hardened despite the sad puppy face Dawson was giving her.

"God, Dawson. You are so pathetic," she said, rolling her eyes. She started to walk away.

"Jo, please answer me," Dawson begged. "Please stop. I need to hear you say this. Tell me, are you really going to France?" Dawson had lightly grabbed her wrist and turned her to face him. He looked into her eyes. "Are you?"

Joey was trying to stop herself from melting under his gaze. She felt his eyes burning into her. "They are so gorgeous," she thought. She forgot herself for a moment as she returned his stare. Then, she remembered how angry she was and why. "I made the decision to go to France..." she started. Her eyes fell to the ground. "But I was too late. The other girl broke up with her boyfriend and already made all the arrangements to go."

"That's great!" Dawson yelled, pulling Joey into his embrace. He wanted to jump up and down for joy. Joey wriggled out of his arms.

"What are you doing, Dawson?" she sneered. "You woke up thinking differently about things, remember? Where's the insensitive jerk from this morning that left me all alone?" Dawson looked at her with sorrow.

"I am so sorry..."

"Always sorry! Maybe if you thought about how you were hurting people before you did anything to be sorry about..." Joey interrupted angrily.

"You know what, Jo?" Dawson interrupted back. "I already got told off by Pacey about this today. Maybe if you would shut up a minute, I could explain." Joey was surprised at the harshness in Dawson's voice but was silent. "Okay, now I have to apologize for yelling at you, too. Let me start over. Jo, I love you." She rolled her eyes. "I know I deserve that, but I do," he continued. "I didn't want to affect your decision about France. I didn't want you staying here for me. I mean, I did, but I couldn't let you stay no matter how much I wanted you to. I thought that not factoring me in as part of your decision would make it fair, so I pretended not to care about you as much. Jo, it hurt me so much to see you hurt and know that I was the cause. Here," Dawson said, pulling out the roses. "In a garden of beauties, you outshine them all." Joey slowly took the roses and smelled them.

"You are such a sappy romantic, Dawson," Joey finally smiled, stroking the petals. "Especially that last line. Where did you get that from? I hope that I'm never that bad." Dawson laughed even though she was making fun of him. It was good to see her smile. "Dawson?"

"Yes, dear?"

"Dear? Uh oh. You're rubbing off on me already. You called me dear... and I kind of like it. Anyway, never leave me like that again, okay? If you do, I will track you down and physically beat you," Joey said seriously.

"Just try it," Dawson said, caressing her cheek. She put the flowers down and put her arms around his neck.

"You know I would," Joey smiled. "I've beaten up guys bigger than you before. You know that."

"Sure," Dawson chuckled. "Maybe later I'll even let you have your way with me."

"You are so gross, Dawson," Joey made a face. Dawson put his arms around her waist and kissed her as tenderly as he could. They stayed like that for a few minutes before Dawson started walking her back to his house. Joey picked up her flowers and cradled them in one arm. Dawson casually wiped his hand on his pants before taking Joey's hand in his. She noticed and smiled, but decided not to say anything to ruin the moment.

Joey had gone home shortly after they had gotten to Dawson's house because they both had a lot of homework. No one else was at her house. Joey heard the doorbell ring. She got up to get it, expecting to see Dawson. She laughed at the thought of him not being able to stay away for a couple of hours. She promised that she would come back later for a special movie night to celebrate their togetherness. A look of disgust crossed her face when she opened the door to Pacey.

"What are you doing here?" Joey asked. "You know, even though I cut school, I still have to make up all the work, so make it quick."

Pacey ignored Joey's attitude towards him. "Did you talk to Dawson, yet?" he asked, genuinely concerned. "You seemed really upset this morning. Dawson didn't tell me anything, but I knew that he was the cause."

"Yeah," Joey said excitedly. "I'm great now. I guess it's official. We're together! I'm not going to go to France, now, but that's okay. I really didn't want to leave, anyway. Not yet. I still had some things to work out."

"Hey, congrats!" Pacey smirked. "You got the Leery boy. Too bad. You could have done so much better."

"With you, Pacey? Don't worry. We'll always have the snail threesome," Joey laughed. "I have to finish my homework so I can get to Dawson's. Thanks for coming, bye."

"Ooooh. Joey's going to Dawson's tonight. Well, have fun. Play safe," Pacey said with a wink. "And check on Jen while you're there?"

"Good idea," Joey said, ignoring the rest of what Pacey had said. "And Pacey?"

"Hmm?"

"Thanks for worrying about me," Joey added sheepishly. Pacey smiled and left.

Joey left to row across the creek a couple of hours later. She brought a red and a white rose to keep at Dawson's and a white rose for Jen. When she got to Dawson's house, she put the red and white roses down next to the ladder and went to Jen's house. She nervously rang the doorbell.

"May I help you?" Jen's grandmother answered the door.

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry for what happened," Joey mumbled. "Is Jen here?"

"Jen's sleeping, the poor girl. I don't want to wake her." "Um... okay, thank you. Oh, and here. This is for you both." Joey handed her the flower.

"Thank you, Josephine. I'll tell Jen you stopped by with this." Jen's grandmother closed the door and Joey ran to the ladder. She picked up the roses and climbed into Dawson's room. He wasn't there, so she found a glass and filled it with water for the roses. She had just put them in the water when she heard Dawson coming up the stairs.

"Hey, Jo," he said, giving her a kiss. "Sorry I'm late, I was eating. Do you know that I hadn't eaten anything all day because of you?"

"Well, it's good to know that I'm in control of this relationship," Joey grinned, plopping down on the bed. "Start the movie. I left Bessie a note saying that I'll probably be back tomorrow. I hope she won't mind that it's a school night, but it's a special occasion. She'll understand... maybe... although I didn't come home last night, either, come to think of it... oh well. Don't worry. We just shouldn't stay up too late."

"If you're in charge, beautiful, you still have to have your way with me," Dawson smiled mischievously. He put the tape on and joined Joey on the bed. He took her in his arms.

"If you don't stop saying that, maybe I will. And it won't be enjoyable for you," Joey said jokingly. Dawson shrugged and kissed her again. They sort of watched half of the movie before they turned it off and fell asleep in each other's embrace.

Well, there you go. This may be the last part of the story. Feedback, people! I hope you liked it!


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